Tactics
by SweetImagination15
Summary: Because of an emergency, the Headmaster of Hogwarts cooperates with the guardians to pick four wizards to defy the upcoming battle, using time-travel. Brought over to today in their familiar forms of eleven years old, Merida, Rapunzel and Hiccup will join Jack in the magical preparation of Hogwarts - with no memory of their previous lives. Rated T/M for blood detail. MeridaXJack.
1. Merida

**Alooohaaa! :D**

**I know what you must be thinking… I should be uploading Within the Moonlight rather than this… but, you know, I'm terribly fond of Rise of the Guardians, especially crossed over with Brave, Tangled and HTTYD.**

**And that's exactly what I'm doing!**

**Don't worry, I'll surely update more one-shots for my other story, but ONLY if you guys give the ideas. If you're also a fan of these four lovely characters, stay tuned for this story!**

**Oh, and I don't like writing prologues. I skip instantly to the story, but if that bothers you, I can write one eventually.**

…

Some people say you shouldn't misbehave just because you hate what you've been doing. That you should follow the rules and be nice, never losing your balance. That your voice shall be raised at the opportune moment, or that your posture must never lack.

And others say that you can't just be perfect. Because, if the world you live in isn't so entirely flawless, you shouldn't be either. Be untamed, wild and fierce if that's what you wish to be. Be free, think positive and make mistakes… life is based on that.

You can be sensitive when you wish to. You can be cheesy, as in admiring the sunset with emotions flooding out of your heart, and making no attempt to stop them.

"Cheesy, huh," Merida muttered, puffing out a sigh to blow the disturbing red lock upon her small nose, "I wouldn't picture myself on that."

She doodled over the small parchment of papyrus distractedly. Funny. She really wouldn't imagine herself being so cheesy at the moment. She just… thought of that out of the blue?

"Aye, I'm princess Merida, the awkward lass who randomly thinks of the colors of the sunset and how they shine, and in a moment it switches to apple pies." She shook her head incredulously, and then let out a slight bitter laugh.

"There I go, talking to myself again…"

Lifting up the paper, she grimaced. What once was to be a nice valley of orange trees became a smuggled over tint mess, like she spilled a massive portion of chopped carrots all over the scenery. Merida sighed and ripped the drawing in two, throwing it someplace else in the corner of her bedroom. She needed fresh air, and fast.

Already halfway to the stone shaped stairs, Merida hugged herself. The area was illuminated by only a small set of candles, providing a dimmed aura to the point you almost seemed to hit blindness. So no wonder why it was so cold.

She gave a gentle push to the door and evaded the kitchen, taking in everything she could with her eyes. The cook wasn't there, probably preparing dinner, but there were plenty of delicacies beautifully set over the tables, enough to bring water to your mouth. Merida spotted freshly baked bread inside a small basket folded in a red plaid cloth, a trey of three different types of appealing cakes; the one topped with never-ending coconut sprinkles in a shape of a square caught her attention.

Therefore, not even bothering to check if the employees were watching, she picked up a knife and slowly dug the sharp blade into the sweet dessert, slicing it into one generous thick piece and bringing it to her mouth.

The effect was immediate, an instant explosion of flavors that urged through her tongue. She caught most of the employees staring at her incredulously, so she smirked, after finishing the slice.

"This is incredible!" Merida announced, heading for the stables' entrance and grinning madly from ear to ear, "Keep up the good work!"

A princess could definitely have fun.

Merida pushed the small door open, gleaming with joy at the sight of her horse companion. Angus always reminded her of those days when she could run wild and free like she wanted.

It wasn't like her mother didn't change after the incident with Mor'du; sure, she was lighter on Merida's duties and whatsoever, but she was still fighting her fate like dogs in chains. She was the future queen of DunBroch, a member of its royal family.

She couldn't deny that for a fact.

She dug her feet into the holding straps of Angus' saddle, let out a dominant command, and galloped away like flying.

Horse riding always cleared her mind. The wind snapping on her face felt much more like a soft kiss from nature, one that made her feel welcome among the fauna and flora of the forest.

Merida pulled out her bow, aimed an arrow at the first target she'd build herself, and released the string. Hit right in the center. It wasn't the bow she was used to, though. She never spat out at her mother what she felt when her bow was reduced to ashes. She didn't want to cause anymore conflicts, so she just pretended it never happened. But, she still missed her old bow.

Pulling out another arrow, she targeted at another center. No matter how much of an expert at archery she was, Merida never got tired of the rush of adrenaline that combed her spine when shooting a bow.

That got her thinking. Why did her father teach her how to swordfight, how to ride a horse and shoot a bow, when her mother always presided over the court? Oh dear, how did her parents even _agree_ with each other?

The sudden neigh from Angus startled her out of the moon.

"What is it now, Angus?" she complained. That horse sure got scared out of anything.

The horse merely neighed in fright as response, tilting his face towards his left. Merida frowned, and followed his stare, which was not the best idea. Her heart fell to her feet at such sight.

A wisp.

"This can't be real…" she breathed, horrified. She just _knew_ that she had to follow it, it urged inside her, but…

This wasn't going to end well.

Merida jumped down from Angus, still dumbstruck on the wisp. Her mind told her to turn around, to ignore it or else trouble would follow behind, but she was paralyzed. She couldn't even blink.

_I can't follow it, _she assured herself,_ I don't want any trouble…_

Those words served nothing.

After what seemed an eternity, Merida breathed in, and stepped up.

The familiar childlike whines of the flame surveyed her ears, and it got louder and louder by the minute. She extended her arm slowly and carefully, standing a few inches away from the blue spirit, and its reflection could be seen on her big turquoise eyes.

The tip of her fingers brushed against the hotness, and it was vanished into smoke. Like a sixth sense, Merida turned to her right.

Obviously, there was that same old circle of ancient stones.

She ran towards it, holding the layers of her dark blue dress to ease the action, and panting nervously and in fright. What was going to happen now had no turning back.

She could feel Angus' hard breathing rustling on her neck as he went after her, but other than that, Merida paid no mind to it as a shadow swam away on the grass.

A thick, maleficent laugh filled in the silent air of the forest, and she felt tremors rushing down her back. What on earth was that creature?

Before she dug into the thought more fiercely, the dark shadows magically rose from the ground as spirits, and cut through her body flush like a rock through a bowl of water.

Merida screamed, terrified, pulling her hands up to her rebellious red curls to shield herself. There was pain, oh yes there was. Like a sword ripping all of your vital organs, the shadows crossed her as rapid fire, and her insides burned. She just kept thinking it would stop.

The darkness hovered over the round stones, cursing the sacred local. Merida acted quickly.

Ignoring the pain slicing her in two pieces, she mounted Angus (not minding his protests of fear) and rode away as fast as an arrow in the air. She had to get help. This was no joke, something evil was up, and even more evil than Mor'du, if that was even possible.

It stabbed her endlessly. Merida had never felt this hurtful before. The pain started up on her collarbone and descended powerfully to her abdomen, making the skin feel like someone buried a heavy lump of lead beneath the skin. Whoever did this to her was… a sadist.

She jumped out of Angus the moment he stopped at the middle of the village plaza, nearly tripping over her feet, and dashed to the castle. She whimpered at the shot of pain through her torso.

"Help!" she yelled as loud as she could, her voice even raspy from the strength, "Mum, dad, help!"

Fergus rose up from his chair (turning it over) and approached his limping daughter. Elinor was far ahead him, hand already checking for possible wounds.

"My goodness, Merida, what happened to ye?!" Elinor inquired, brown eyes dipped in concern.

She tried to answer, she really did, but the stabbing restarted like a punch, and she screamed.

"Talk to us, lass, are ye hurt?!" Fergus piped up.

"T-t-the w-willow the wisps," Merida sobbed, clutching her sides with tears gathering in the corner of her eyes, "Y-ye h-have to trust me o-on this one d-dad, take b-backups to the Ancient Stones!"

He didn't need to be told twice.

When Merida got a grip of her surroundings, she was being forcefully pushed into a room and hearing the soft clunk of a key locking a hole. She paid no attention to the unbearable pain for a moment, due to the shock, and crossed ways with a tiny window.

"Dad, let me out!" she demanded. Oh boy, this was starting to feel like when Elinor was turned into a bear.

"No, ye're staying in the castle for recovery!" he replied, walking away to the front gates.

"But unless I'm there, ye won't find it!" she insisted, in a broken voice, "Please dad, ye know what happened last time, and what if this is even worse?!"

For a second, Merida could swear her father stopped his tracks when her words struck. She knew it was a low strike, remembering him about how he almost murdered his own wife, but she had a strong feeling about this. She had to go, no matter what.

She heard him sigh heavily, turn on his heel and unlocking the door very much hesitantly.

"Fine, but don't ye dare fight if this gets messy."

The ginger nodded, supporting her weight on the bear body of Fergus, who guided them down to the out open field. The whole DunBroch clan was there, witnessing the scene with wide eyes and a few murmurs of fearful words. Merida could guess what they were thinking. How this was bad, terrifically bad, and she had to agree. Couldn't the wisps just leave her alone for once?

The Hooligans' whole army was promptly prepared for the upcoming battle. Knights balanced on their horses, correctly sharpened swords clutched by their calloused hands, and archers pulling out dozens of arrows to target.

Merida was cautiously hopped into Fergus' dark horse, flinching from the sharp movements. The ache wouldn't leave... it still held in her like a branding iron penetrating her throat rapidly and stretching to her stomach.

"Please, keep us safe," she whispered to the sky, clinging to her bow.

_Leave us out of more sacrifices._

Fergus howled in anger, and kicked the side of his horse. Deafening noises bore into her eardrums from the screams of wanted victory, cries from desperate families and neighs from the endless galloping horses. This was a new battle.

As they made it to the Stones, Merida didn't hold back a torturous yell –nor could. The sensation gained weight and spread out to her knees, as if a cursed soul tried to sneak its way into her fragile body. It was overwhelming.

Baby blue eyes followed her father jumping out of the horse with a firm grip of his sword, as well as the remaining knights, when it finally appeared.

The shadowed spirit.

Now that she checked it closer, it was even more frightening than she thought. It possessed grayish eyes with a light tint of gold, circling the black pupil like an eclipse, and so slim fingers, almost to the point of monstrosity.

The pain was reborn again inside her, much more mightily against her inner skin, devouring her organs and life in a hellish frenzy. Merida shrieked in pain like she never did before. It felt like those shadows were toying with her, especially when that same eerie laugh filled in the air and echoed throughout the whole forest.

Gritting her teeth in annoyance, the ginger hopped to the ground with a wince, and held up her bow in confidence towards the moving shadows. So, it wanted to play? Very well, she'd play along.

With a sharp hiss, she released the string expertly… only to go right through the obscurity.

"What?!" she blabbed, appalled. She was about to try again, when…

"MERIDA, RUN!"

She had no chance to identify the voice. Those words had been spoken right in sync with another evil laugh and…

Heat. Painful heat. So much pain and suffering for a simple substance. Her brain urged her to scream for help and mercy, but her lungs were crushed cruelly and isolated away from oxygen. They felt like melting, and melting and burning and hurting…

She had been hit by fire.

It burned her skin and made her tremble at such impact, like innumerous needles picking at her body, going up and down so impossibly slow that death was her desire.

Let someone end the pain, smack me, beat me, _kill_ me, and other dreadful wishes filled in her mind, as the flames crept up, engulfing her wholly.

Then, when it seemed hopeless…

Darkness.

Darkness and silence.

This darkness had hung over her for what seemed like thousands of seconds, maybe hours, days, if not months…

Or even years.

It felt like it was never, never going to reach her out to light again.

And in all of that endless solitude, the only thing she could do was glare at dust particles and shadows, paralyzed and eyes narrowed. Emotionless.

And she wanted to cry. She wanted to go back… in this dimension, she realized, she didn't feel a thing – _at all._ She couldn't move, couldn't breathe, and couldn't speak. Trapped in a deathly illusion.

But then… oh.

The moon.

It was so white and so shiny, and it seemed to… to ease the pain and dread. And as it did… Merida felt hope again.

Her eyelids, which had been tightly closed by now, twitched slightly. Once, twice, trice… until they skinned up to uncover the blueness of her irises, and provide her a blurry view of a dark azure stain... and green… and brown… and by the end, fitting it all together much more clearly.

It was a forest, and the night sky was glimmering with uncountable stars, encircling the moon like a god. The crackling gravel and the dirt underneath her feet were suddenly taken away as _something_ cradled her softly into the air, rising her up magically and smoothly. Merida glanced down to her hands, only to gasp a mix of surprise and delight. Delicate flames kissed her wrists wonderfully and widened up to her forearms, proving to be what held her up in the air, and she sure noticed how badly damaged and burnt her dress was. Her savage red hair fluttered all around her head and a few curls brushed on her cheek, tickling her. She couldn't believe a thing beyond her sight.

"I see that you're awake."

The hovering ginger piped up at the soft voice, turning around in mid-air to see who had interrupted her curious explorations.

It was a tall, beautiful woman, with wavy brown hair cascading down her waist like the roots of a tree. She had a pale skin and very gentle hands, slim features and full pinkish lips, with a white long dress trailing on the ground.

But what amazed Merida the most, was the pair of deep pink eyes slightly hued in light green, framed by long eyelashes and a shade of dark green upon her lids. It reminded her so much of pink roses and the green of the plants and leaves of spring. Merida parted her lips, hesitant, but nonetheless, didn't back down.

"Who are ye?" Odd… her voice was a little high pitched.

The woman smiled kindly.

"My name is Natura Orchitis, but you can call me Mother Nature."

Merida froze. What…?

"M-Mother Nature?" she sputtered. Now this was a sick prank!

"Yes, I'm not a fable, I am real my dear," Mother answered, "Now, I assume that you want to know why you're here?"

"A-aye."

Mother Nature smiled, just as sweetly as before, and snapped her fingers. Merida instantly felt a weight inside her chest as the air stopped holding her high, dropping her into the soft grass in a flash, but carefully as an autumn leaf. Realization hit her.

"Was it ye who made me fly?" Merida questioned, wiping dust and burnt sparkles out of her dress. Hmn… her dress was shorter…

"Well, yes, it was the only way of letting you know of your new abilities," Mother replied, and raised the single white layer of her dress to turn around. Merida noticed how she was also barefooted.

The redhead pouted. After all, she wasn't able of flying…

"Follow me dear," she said, kindly extending an arm for the ginger to grasp, "Every question you have shall be answered."

Merida blinked, frowning. Should she trust this woman, who claimed to be Mother Nature and affirmed how she owned supernatural abilities? Heavens, she had woken up alone and silent, without knowing where she was or when it happened.

Then again, turning on the side that was eager for help…

"Good heavens help my bow," Merida muttered.

She took the offered hand in hers, feeling it tingle throughout her skin, and both began walking towards the single gate in the middle of the forest. It was made of glass, and held decorations like those windows used in cathedrals, as tall as the oak trees planted on each side of it. A single red rose stood by the middle.

Mother Nature pushed it open, to reveal what seemed like a fairytale to Merida. The sky was a prodigious, endless, wonderful blue, to the point where you found even further blue if you always stared at it, and the buildings surrounding her were just white like Mother's dress. Dozens of unknown creatures to Merida stood by around them, working and cleaning only the skies knew what.

She felt Mother stop quietly, in front of a very tall and lean mirror, framed by sparkling lilies made of pure metallic silver. It was an even brighter silver color than her necklace.

"Tell me Merida," she spoke, softly, "what do you see?"

The ginger frowned, looking back at the mirror.

Her heart fell to her feet.

Who once was a beautiful sixteen year-old redheaded girl, given good curves and fair appearance, was now a young girl, no older than eight years old, with the same wild mop red hair (slightly tamer than before) and larger turquoise eyes glancing up with the unmistakable innocence of a child. She was much shorter (obviously), her face features were a slight round shape due to her age, and her hands were smaller…

Something clicked inside her mind.

"W-what's goin' on?! Where am I?! Where is my family, my horse, my bow?!"

Those questions slipped out of her throat in an unrecognizable voice for Merida, too high pitched and cheery to be her own. That only drove her to more panic.

Nature raised her hand to a stop, as her tongue kept on releasing those words like an arrow in movement. It felt like a knot had been formed on Merida's vocal chords, which now went free and unleashed the doubts she had for this whole time.

"Do not fear, my dear, you're in safety," she answered, her voice firm but gentle.

"But… what about my parents, or my old… _me?_"

Nature's lips parted for a brief moment, a frown overtaking her expression. Merida did not like that reaction.

The magical woman closed her eyes slowly, while she lifted her chin to admire the view beyond them. It was an amazing trail of mountains and forests, rivers and plants and breathtaking flowers, all of it standing in a reduced size due to the distance. Nevertheless, it was stunning.

"You see Merida… your parents are, well…" she started, but Merida cut her. _No…_

"Get to the point!" _No. It couldn't be._

"They are…"

_I don't want to hear it… please…_

"Dead."

It took a few seconds for the information to sink in, her big eyes widening and lip quivering lightly.

"NO!"

It came out as a scream, the loudest she ever let out. The tears rolled down her red cheeks incessantly, as her knees buckled and gave in to the white marble floor. She cried like never before, face buried into her palms, and as strong and desperate as a new-born child.

She felt a soft hand run down her back for comfort for a short time, but it ended when Nature rose from the floor with a severe narrow of her eyes.

"Bring the supplies. We must do this now."

Merida's cries had calmed down for a bit, enough for her to tilt her head up and check on the situation around her. Many creatures carried some sorts of pillars made of wood; possibly oak wood, shaped like giant mystic flowers, and created a large circle around her crouching form.

"W-what're ye doin'?" she questioned, voice raspy and broken from the tearing.

The woman did not answer, focusing on the preparations for the upcoming events. This had to be done; there was no more time to waste.

Merida was standing on her feet now; that small frame of a child made her look too defenseless and heartwarming. She was now, indeed, a kid. As shocking that came to be.

Nature stepped up into the podium that held a dust filled book, older than anyone would ever imagine. She opened it rapidly and flipped through the burnt pages, but that action just unleashed more dust and dirt to the pure air.

When she found the required page, she glanced up to see how the positions were. The sculptures were properly placed, as the book asked for: as an ancient circle around the person who was to be enchanted. Before starting, she breathed in and cleared her throat.

"_Oh magical spirits, shall you concede my request_

_What once was a peaceful silence, is now a death contest_

_For Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned in a secret shape_

_We must defeat this unbearable scrape!"_

The slender sculptures began shining all of a sudden, blinding the redhead for a short moment. A swirl urged from beneath her feet and went up to swallow her up, and she felt a new sensation combing over her back, tingly and slow. Though it wasn't as painful as being hit by flames, it was still distressing enough.

Merida spotted one of the creatures deliver a stick, somewhat alike to a tree branch, but much more refined than that. She pointed it at Merida as the twirl sucked her arms into oblivion, and guessed that it wasn't good.

"Wait!" she yelped, determinate, "Please, before you do anything, just tell me… what year is this?!"

The woman closed her eyes, sighing, and breathed, "Two thousand and twelve. _**Obliviate**_!"

The last thing sighted before the spell hit her and the turmoil engulfed her, was the vast shock and panicky widen of Merida of Dunbroch's eyes.


	2. Jack

_**WARNING READ THIS!**_

**I know it's been a long time without updating, but I'll have you informed that I'm writing a book of my own. And since I have to focus on the book AND school exams, I most likely will be updating only once in a while. I'm not saying this is on hiatus, it's NOT.**

**There is a poll by the top of my profile asking you what houses each and one of our heros here should belong to: My personal opinion is Rapunzel – Hufflepuff (seriously, she's more royal and I know she's creative, but not enough witty) Hiccup – Ravenclaw (he's definitely intelligent and creative, and he's the most calm of the whole group) Merida – Gryffindor (obviously) and Jack – Slytherin (he's ambitious, even if you didn't notice).**

**I want to warn you about the couples. It's already clarified that it is Jarida (MeridaXJack), but it's NOT Hiccunzel: it's Rapugene (whatever name they use for EugeneXRapunzel...) and I'm a bit bewildered on HiccupXAstrid or HiccupXHeather. I'm mostly turned to Hiccup with Heather, but I want your opinion. Now, ON WITH THE STORY!**

...

"So let me get this straight…"

E. Aster Bunnymund stared at North impiously, paws drawn up and lips tugged in an awkward grimace. Tooth hovered next to him, lending a somewhat disappointed expression at the man.

"Frostbite's been chosen for this stuff?" he repeated, grinning nervously as if it were only an attempt to crack up a joke. However, there was no glimmer of amusement on the Santa Clause's face.

"Yes Bunny," North assured, as serious as ever, "Jack is only one suitable for task."

"But North!" Tooth interjected, in her motherly distressful tone, "This is a very dangerous mission, not to mention that we never used this spell before!"

"We got no choice, Tooth," North replied, "Jack was chosen, along with three more others, to be part of Platinum Quartet."

"The Platinum Quartet?" Aster repeated.

"The Platinum Quartet," Tooth said, sighing in exasperation, "It's a legend that tells the story of four young spirits that are picked from previous centuries, varying between the Viking lore and the medieval era. This legend is a unique one, due to the fact that we spirits never believed this to be a necessary measure in the future."

"So, this never happened before?" Aster asked.

"No. The Platinum Quartet is a choice for eternity, since the four individuals that are chosen get their memories ripped away and immediately become immortal," she answered.

"They will remember nothing from their previous lives," North explained, "until certain time of existence, of course."

"Which means that they will get their memories back at a certain age," Tooth piped in.

"Hang on a minute! You just said that they become immortal," Bunny pointed, madly confused.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot to add something," she said, running a delicate hand through the colorful mourn of feathers upon her scalp, "They become immortal when they achieve seventeen years old."

"They are brought to today in forms of seven years, if not eight, and start the process of recovering memories by fourteen or fifteen," North said, suddenly picking on a small parchment of paper, "This process is to be complete by seventeen years, and their bodies freeze in time."

"But, what happens to the previous time of their lives?" Bunny asked, but before Tooth could answer, it clicked in his mind, "Ooh, don't say, I get it."

"Fake memories," the three said, in unison. Once again, Aster gave them a look of suspicion.

"But why do this lil' trick on Frostbite if he's already immortal _and_ has no full memories?"

"Because the four individuals in the Quartet must follow with the same age," Tooth said, "it's easier done like that. All there is left is choosing who will perform the spell…"

"That would be me."

The three guardians flinched slightly at the new voice, and whipped sideways to see who had interfered.

It was an old woman clothed in dark emerald ropes, with a strict expression possessing her wrinkled features. Locks of silver hair peeked from under the border of her pointy hat, and her rugged hands held on a long wooden stick. Both Bunny and Tooth were dumbfounded, staring curiously at this stranger.

North however, was a different story.

"Ah, Minerva McGonagall!" he cheered, a jolly grin drawn under the mass of white beard, "As always, these wizards seem to pop out of nowhere!"

"As always, you seem quite overjoyed, Nicholas," the woman stated, displaying a hint of a smile.

"Wizards?" Tooth repeated, "Why are wizards important to this matter?"

McGonagall then turned to her, smile now gone, grip on what seemed to be her wand tightening.

"Please allow me to introduce myself," she began, "Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You can call me Professor McGonagall."

"School?!" Aster interrupted, "Wizards have schools?!"

Professor McGonagall immediately engaged a hard glare on the Pooka, who glanced away with an apologetic mumble.

"Yes, mister Bunnymund, we witches and wizards are taught how to use our magic. It is not as simple as you all think it is, this magic."

"But, what has brought you here Professor?" Tooth questioned, ignoring how Bunny was staring wide eyed at the witch, since she had known his name without asking.

"The same reason you three are arguing, miss Toothiana," she said, as a matter-of-fact.

"Jack," Aster afirmed, receiving a nod from the Professor.

"That's my name," a sudden voice joked, and there was no surprise when Jack flew down from the globe and faced the group with his trademark smirk.

"If we're all here, where is Sandy?" he asked, leaning on his staff, a habit of his.

"Sandy couldn't make it, probably busy," Tooth said, floating forward to place a gentle hand on Jack's shoulder, "We want to talk to you."

"What did I do now?" he teased, his smirk stretching to a playful grin, but vanishing almost instantly by seeing the important guest and the tense frown on North's face.

"Is… everything okay?" he coaxed. Tooth closed her eyes, as if she were very doubtful and regretful over something big.

"No, Jack," she finally said.

"We've got a problem, mate, and we need your help," Bunny said, crossing his arms.

"What happened?" Jack inquired, fully focused by now.

North turned to Professor McGonagall expectantly, who nodded and approached Jack with her hands clasped together.

"Mister Frost, I am Minerva McGonagall, the Headmistress of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

"Hogwarts? Wizardry?" Jack said, frowning.

"Yes. I'm here to tell you that you have been chosen to be a part of the Platinum Quartet," McGonagall said.

"The Platinum Quartet?! Me, of all people?!" he uttered, shocked.

"Yes, you of all people," McGonagall scoffed at his oblivious reaction, "We have already picked the remaining three wizards, and we will use a spell to join you all."

"Now hold on," Jack cut in, a fierce, disappointed stare embedded in his now icy blue eyes. They all knew better to not spicy up his temper: when his politeness vanished, it was obvious that Jack was truly upset.

"I don't have an opinion about this?" he asked, somehow managing to keep his voice calm by the beginning, but rising it up by the end, "You think you can just barge in and say that I'm about to let three, _hundred_, years go to waste?!"

"Please Jack, calm yourself," Tooth interfered, placing a hand upon his frigid shoulder.

"We are not saying that you have no opinion about this," North informed, voice tone assuring, "But this is serious, Jack. The Platinum Quartet needs you as a member."

Jack opened his mouth to retort something, but he knew that nothing useful would come out to aid him this time. Gripping the tough gravel of his shepherd's crook, he raised his head slowly, making sure to meet everyone's eyes without wriggling around.

"This is… unfair. It's exactly like when you all tried to make me a guardian, while I didn't want to," he started, not accusingly, but enough to make them flinch and break visual contact.

He drove his gaze upon McGonagall, who seemed to be in a mixture of sheer understanding and emotionless reaction.

"Can't you just… couldn't you give me, I don't know… three days?" He requested, but as soon as she opened her mouth to object, he quickly added, "Just to bid farewell. I… I'll do it."

"Really? Are you sure about this?" Tooth asked, and hovered down to check on his face, expecting a comprehensive look, only to be startled by his bitter narrow of his stare and hard pressure of his thin lips.

"Do I have a choice?" Jack breathed. The question was obviously left unanswered.

He spun on the back of his foot, milky white strands hiding his tearful eyes, and flew towards the open window like a bullet in motion. He didn't bother to say goodbye, and didn't even cast them a glance.

Jack could have fallen hard on the floor if it weren't for the sudden gush of wind that automatically lifted him.

Turns out that, his maximum strenght was being used, at that same time, to restrain his breakdown of tears and sobs.

…

_No fair… definitely no fair._

The hail storm threw a wave of snow and ice on him, embracing his docile form like a comforting cradle motion. His pale white locks froze over almost immediately, but he was overly accostumed to feel uneasy by that. In fact, it somewhat soothed him.

Jack dangled his slim legs over the edge of the cliff he was sitting on light-headedly. He had flown to the closest, freezing place he could first think of: Greenland.

"Why do I feel that I'm falling down through an endless pit, with no way of stopping it?" he asked at the night sky, beautifully hidden behind staggering curtains of the well-known phenomenom Aurora Borealis.

"Because there are moments when you are forced to do something against your will."

Jack flinched slightly at the new voice, his head immediately rotating to his side to check on who disturbed his peaceful solitude. He felt relaxed, and somewhat surprised.

"Mother Nature."

Nature smiled that angelic, suave smile that Jack was used to see, and approached him slowly, the glowing white cloth of her dress dragging snow along.

"May I know what is bothering you, my sweet child?" she requested, placing a warm hand upon his shoulder. He was sure getting a lot of that today.

"I just..." he breathed, avoiding Nature's gaze and focusing on the colorful effect by the dark sky, "I... I've been told today that... that I have to give away my three hundred years of existence, just because I was chosen to be part of the Platinum Quartet."

Mother Nature was exactly like a mother he desired to him; she was very sweet and kind to Jack, even if she acted like that to every seasonal sprite. Each an one of them were like a child to her, yet being only some sort of co-workers.

Jack expected a surprised, yet proud reaction from his supposed mother, but the only response he got was a calm sigh. He frowned.

"Mother?" he enticed, looking back at her.

She was staring at him with comprehensive rose eyes, a small glimmer of tears hanging by the corners of the lids. Nature let out a breathful chuckle, almost bitter.

"... So they have told you already," she stated, her face slightly disappointed.

"Wait, you knew about this?" he asked, chocked.

"I'm afraid so," Nature breathed.

She rose from the solidified ground, gazing up at the Aurora Borealis exactly like Jack did. There was a brief silence occuped by the mere breathing of Nature's, since he did not have to breathe. He could, like a sigh or a blow, but he didn't require oxygen.

"You were indeed chosen, Jack," she finally said, turning around to cup her delicate hands around his pale face.

"There is no turning back."

Jack parted his lips to talk, but his tongue seemed literally frozen. The world was crumbling and falling apart around him, and he had nothing to hold on and no one was there to save him.

"Why me?" he asked, surprised by his clear tone.

Nature removed her hands from his cheeks, and gave him a small kiss on his forehead.

"I suppose I can explain that to you. You're going to forget it anyway."

That last part made Jack bite his tongue in order to not protest, letting Nature proceed with her explanation.

"It has been decided that the Platinum Quartet must be composed by the four Guardians of the Seasons: Winter, Spring, Summer, and Autumn. As you can see, Winter has been already sorted out."

"Wait, what?" Jack interrupted, starstruck, "_I'm _the Guardian of Winter? Isn't that Old Man Winter?!"

"No, Jack," she said, wearing the brightest smile of all, "You are. He is the Lord of Winter, amongst other cold based powers, and you are his Guardian."

"Why you look at that," he mused, rolling his eyes, "I'm the Guardian of Fun _and _Winter. That's a bit of overwork upon my shoulders, don't you think, mother?"

"Quite a bit, yes," she agreed, oblivious to his sarcasm, "But on with the story."

"The other three have actually been sorted already. A girl, from an ancient kingdom that worshipped sunlight, for Spring."

"A boy, from the early ninth century Viking tribe, for Autumn."

"And a young girl, from a Hooligan Clan deep in whilom Scotland, for Summer."

"Seems like I'll be _enjoying_ my time with Miss Summer," he scoffed, but decided to quit the interruptions by Nature's warning stare.

"Once you've performed the spell and change into an eleven year old child, your memories will be taken and kept safe with Old Man Winter. He's in charge of Winter and Autumn, while I'm supposed to guard Spring and Summer's. These three young teens will join you at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where you will study there for seven years."

"But, why do we have to attend Hogwarts?" Jack asked.

"Because this enemy – enemies, pardon me – are very strong. Too strong, and you four will only be able of defeating them once and for all if you are given the proper teaching and training with your magic. In the meanwhile of any possible school breaks, you will go on multiple trips in order to find the required relics to achieve the highest level of your powers, and be able of finishing this whole new hell..."

"So, we basically have to work as a team," he stated, intrigued, but somewhat bothered. Being a lone wolf for three centures just added oil to the fire.

"Yes, indeed."

There was a silence, in which Jack used to ponder about his obligations, and Mother watched him carefully.

He was going to be reduced to a harmless kid, and sent to a school that seemed more of a prison to him every time they mentioned it. He was going to be stuck with three kids with no possible knowledge about what they would go through – but, putting it otherwise, Jack...

Jack was going to lose his memories.

The ones he created within these thousands of years he's existed, and his newly recovered ones from his human life – that counts three hundred and seventeen years tossed to nothing.

But he had no choice, and besides, he would eventually remember, as Mother Nature said.

"I think I'm ready to do this."

...

The circle formed around Jack's relatively small figure emanated strong and soothing vibes from it, calming his nervous and – dare he admit it – terrified soul. He had been warned of the consequences, and he accepted them, so no way he was turning back now.

His staff hung by Bunnymund's large paw as this all happened, with North, Tooth and Sandy watching along. Sandy's reaction to Jack's departure was very miserable, since the Dream Guardian liked the Frost Spirit a lot, but nonetheless took it as irreversible.

"We will begin the spell now," McGonagall informed, and Jack nodded in the slightest, after a long deep breath.

_You can do this._

Mother Nature joined side with Professor McGonagall, and both raised their right hands, currently closing around a refined piece of wood. He assumed those were the so popular wands.

_"Hear our pray, send this boy by Heaven,_

_He shall conquer this succeeding unwoven,_

_And tie back the dispatched linen."_

The spell was rather strange to be heard, quite confusing, but Jack couldn't think of it any longer as a bright light started swallowing his body flush like a dry flower desperate for water.

"Everything will be fine, Jack," he heard Tooth say, the brilliant magic skinning further up afterwards.

Until finally, in a few seconds, Jack Frost had started the most relevant, fierce battle of his extensive existence.

...

**Again, I ask for you to read this...**

**I'm considering lowering the rating to T; I mean, there's not going to have **_**explicit**_** sex scenes here, but there will be lots of blood and violence, and some highly heated scenes between our –AHEM JARIDA AHEM - so yeah... you could tell me throughout the story.**

**Two more things: One, I am not american, nor british, nor australian or any of english countries; I'm european, not displaying detailed information, and it could be normal for me to have a few mistakes. I don't have a beta reader, and from here you get the drill.**

**Second: If you haven't read my author's note at the beginning, I strongly advise you to do so.**


	3. Prologue

**I'm not doing the other two transformations, I'll eventually do something about that, and I did Merida's because she's the main character in this, along with Jack. It's not like Rapunzel and Hiccup are just secondary… they are equally main, but…**

**Okay, I admit it: No PATIENCE.**

**I'm calling this one the prologue because the story will take place by their fifth year in Hogwarts, so… this chapter is basically how they met and where they were sorted into. I know McGonagall was long gone by 1998, but I extended her timeline. I really think she's a badass headmaster.**

**Also, this summer I'm introducing a new story about Jack and Merida, with the plotline of Snow White and the Huntsman: It's called The Fire Princess and the Bowman. I really just picture Jack as an archer than a huntsman, but he's a bit of everything. He's both 'archery' and 'swordfight', and he's human in that story. There's a trailer made by me: watch?v=13VH79vQhco**

**Enjoy!**

…

"Merida! Wake up sweetheart, today's the big day!"

The ginger groaned beneath the musled sheets of her bed, peeling an eye open to the flash of sunlight that seeped through her window. Merida immediately averted her stare, slightly sensitive from the long period of sleep, and tore the blanket away.

Today was indeed the big day – she was starting school, and it was not a regular one.

Three months ago, a woman, Minerva McGonagall was her name, delivered a letter to her parents in person, stating that she was attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, educational for young wizards and witches. The question why she was chosen still hanged in her mind now and then, but Merida mostly brushed it off.

"Merida?" Emily called, peeking into her messy bedroom, "Ah, finally! I've been tryin' to wake ye up for a long time, ye know?"

"Sorry, mum! I was tired yesterday," Merida said, slightly amused at her mother's thickness in her scottish accent. That always happened to Merida too, when her temper had the best of her.

"Well then, clean up yer room! You have one hour to get yourself ready," Emily announced, closing the door behind her, but only after scolding the redheaded young triplets that had dashed through the house in a fit of laughter.

Merida rolled her eyes, grinning. Her brothers' behavior always made her chuckle.

She rose from the bed, which was almost completely torn over beneath the red and brownish duvet, and drew apart the matching curtains to reveal more of the morning sunlight. Emily insisted on decorating her room in the least, even if Merida complained, saying she only wanted a plain blanket on her bed and a desk.

_"But what about a wardrobe?" Emily had asked, confused._

_"I think the bed can do both!" Merida joked, earning a roll of her mother's hazelnut brown eyes._

But in the end, she did like the result; the wooden floor had been covered with a medium sized rug, both golden and red, the walls were painted pearl white, with a few frames symbolizing her birth and childhood, a brown desk with a computer and a lamp on it, and the blessed wardrobe.

Merida opened the wardrobe and pulled out a random outfit, careless about the combinations. She wasn't too tuned to fashion, but she mixed a few things in her own way.

It was a simple red T-shirt and a pair of jeans, followed by her favourite sneakers and a grey jacket. Merida rushed to the bathroom, dodging her brothers' frenzy, and finished what she had to do.

"Merida, are ye done? Yer mother is callin' ye, lass!" Felix said.

"Comin', dad!" she replied, right after removing the wet towel from her unruly ginger hair and buttoning up her jeans.

Merida barged out of the bathroom, just as if she had two Firebolts strapped to her feet, and sat down on the table along with her family. The air deluged with the scent of freshly baked pancakes and orange juice, Merida's favourite way of starting the day.

"Wow, slow down there, lass!" Felix adverted, grinning from ear to ear upon seeing his daughter soak her plate of pancakes with dozens of chocolate syrup.

"Ye'll come up with collywobbles!" Emily scolded.

"_Ah'm hangry_," Merida mumbled through munches of sweet food. Felix laughed.

"That ye sure are," he said, "Excited fer the big day?"

She gave her food a last chew, and swallowed it up with the help of one sip of her juice.

"Obviously! I can't wait!" she said, grinning.

"Just make sure you don't fail your grades there," Emily warned, but the smile hinting behind that strict face gave the façade away.

"And if wizards have some sort of sports, become a pro at it!" Felix demanded, mirroring Merida's grin.

"I sure will!"

...

The London subway was incredibly crowded that morning, voices echoing all over the place, along with pushes of their trolleys or luggage, depending on where you were headed to.

Merida was headed for Platform Nine and Three Quarters, the most popular way of going to Hogwarts amongst all wizards. At first, she thought that such platform couldn't exist, but they were giving it a try anyway.

Merida pushed her trolley around, trying to avoid the people bumping into her. Her stomach clenched around her as she was reminded that she had been chosen to be a witch, and was going to receive special education for that. She had loved the news, ready for an adventure, but she still had nerves picking at her chest.

Suddenly, Merida was stopped, as few steps from a thick brick wall.

"We can't get through, Merida," Felix said, and then gave her a bear hug that almost crushed her lungs. She didn't complain; in fact, she liked that about her dad.

"Be good, darling," Emily said, embracing her tightly and kissing her forehead, "Write to us every weekend!"

"Don't worry, mum, I will," Merida assured, a childlike smile drawn to her lips, "I'll see you in Christmas!"

"Goodbye, Merida, work hard!" Emily said, through a mix of tears and a smile.

The ginger nodded, spun on the heels of her shoes, and then launched herself into the wall.

The world seemed to spin in a twirl of dark green and grey around her, but Merida couldn't point out many details, since she had closed her eyes for precaution.

Afterwards, the ground became straight again, and her head went back to normal, making her reopen her eyes cautiously.

There, in its own magical and imposing stature, stood a scarlet red train, fuming out under a large placard that specified the name 'Hogwarts Express'.

"Professor McGonagall sure said tha' it would be crowded," Merida mumbled, giving her trolley a slow, gentle push.

She wandered around the platform, eyes all over the magical families and ears hypersensitive to the loud noises the people were making, with her mouth agape in a delightful surprise.

After a slow, short walk around, Merida found the luggage zone, and immediately sped up towards it. However, she made sure the transporting cage was with her.

"Merida, over here!"

Merida turned to the root of the voice, and an instant grin took over her features.

There, a few meters away, ran a short young girl with the longest blonde hair ever seen flapping from side to side, in a tidy braid.

"Rapunzel!" the ginger yelled, stepping forward to keep up Rapunzel's pace.

Rapunzel was a girl she had met in Diagon Alley, in the petshop, while Merida was bewildered on which pet she should bring to Hogwarts.

_"That owl looks so cute!" Rapunzel piped in, over Merida's shoulder, but averted herself almost immediately, "Oh, sorry..."_

_"It's okay! I agree with ye," Merida assured, grinning, "I'm Merida. Merida Burns."_

_"I'm Rapunzel. Rapunzel Greengrass," Rapunzel answered, tucking a loose strand of blond hair behind her ear, luring out a surprised sound from Merida._

_"That's a _lot_ of hair... don't you ever cut it?"_

_"Well, it's complicated..." Rapunzel said, smiling nervously, "You're attending Hogwarts, aren't you?"_

_"Yep. And ye are too, right?" Merida pointed out, rumaging her hands throughout the rows of animal cages, still undecided._

_"I sure am. You don't seem to come from England..." Rapunzel said, and gave a curious look at her untamable red hair, after raising her eyebrows at her accent._

_"I'm from Dumbarton, Scotland," Merida informed, flashing her teeth in a grin. Rapunzel mimicked her grin._

_"Nice! I heard it's cold there..."_

_"A wee bit," Merida said, and both laughed at her choice of words._

By the time Rapunzel stopped running, Merida was giggling at her crouched position, as she tried to catch her breath.

"Oof! You're fast," Rapunzel said, "I thought I was never going to catch you!"

"Back in Dumbarton I was the fastest in my school," Merida commented, still chuckling, while they both entered the train, infested by innumerous students, either in their own compartment or wandering around the thin halls.

They found an empty one, and took the advantage, placing down their stuff and then sitting across each other.

"So you were raised by muggles?" Rapunzel asked.

"Yep, though I always thought that word was a wee strange," Merida joked, and right away a distressed mewl came from her carrying case. She rolled her eyes.

"Oh, alright," she said, standing from her seat to unlock the small door of the box. Rapunzel squealed, as Merida brought out in her arms a milky white cat, with its fur slightly long and fluffy as velvet, eyes a startling crystal blue.

"Aw, he's so cute! What's his name?" Rapunzel asked, shifting forward to pet it behind the ears. It purred almost automatically.

"This is Ace," Merida said, and straightened him on her lap, "I guess I did choose a pet..."

Rapunzel laughed, and lowered her fingers to be underneath Ace's jaw.

"Jings, tha' was fast... he already likes ye!" Merida exclaimed, surprised. Rapunzel giggled.

"I've got a thing for animals."

"Hey 'Punzie..." Merida said, and Rapunzel didn't seem to mind the sudden nickname, "There's a bump in yer shoulder..."

"Oh? Oh!" she made, and suddenly the bump had a pair of big brown eyes, crawling up to the golden top of her head, "Meet Pascal, my pet."

"A chameleon? I've never seen one," Merida said, and stretched a hand at Pascal.

He stared at it, somewhat uncertain, before jumping into her palm and curl himself until the pattern on his green scales matched Merida's reddish skin. She laughed.

"I managed to get him as a replacement of toads," Rapunzel said, "Professor Longbottom said it was no biggie."

"Professor Longbottom?"

"Yeah, he's our Herbology teacher and Deputy Headmaster (1)," she added, "He's kind of the nicest professor I've heard of."

"That's new to me... many of my professors were hell incarnated," Merida said, grimacing. Rapunzel chuckled.

There was a sudden knock at the glass door of their cabinet, and both turned their heads. It was a short boy, with auburn pointy hair and an explosion of freckles beneath his eyes, and definitely someone you'd call 'a talking fishbone'.

"Have you seen a cat around here? A girl named Heidi can't find hers," he asked politely, but hinted with nervousness.

"Unless this is the hapless cat you're lookin' fer," Merida emphasized her scottish accent in satire and raised Ace from her lap, who hissed in protest from being awakened from his nap, "No, we haven't seen it."

The boy smiled, amused by her joke, and soon after a tall boy with messy silver hair stepped behind him, peeking inside the cabinet.

"Have you found it yet, Hiccup?" he said, but soon after his icy blue eyes widened at the sight of the two girls. They went from Rapunzel, then to Merida, Rapunzel, Merida, Rapunzel, Ace, Hiccup.

"That's not the cat we're looking for, Jack," Hiccup said, shrugging.

"Hold on," Rapunzel interrupted, giggling slightly, "Your name is Hiccup?"

"Yer hair is white?!" Merida asked, wide eyed in shock, and Jack smirked at the auburn haired boy.

"Yep. Born with it."

"I think it's more of a silver tone, but it's still strange… in a good way," Rapunzel corrected, and turned to Hiccup expectantly. At first he blinked, but then his mouth formed a silent 'Oh'.

"Oh… yeah. Bless my dad for believing in old, Viking traditional naming..." Hiccup said, sarcasm dipped thoroughly in his tongue, "What about you two?"

"I'm Merida, and this is Rapunzel," Merida said, after breathing in for a minute to avoid laughter, and Rapunzel waved by the mention of her name.

What Jack did next was mainly dismissed and unnoticed, but it was certainly uncanny. Not knowing how or when it happened, a wave of goosebumps went up both Merida's and his back in a not so normal way, at the exact time his freezing blue eyes met with her greenish turquoise ones. The ginger frowned, breaking eye contact.

_Mitchy me, what was that?_

"Hey, Jack!" Hiccup said, gesturing to the spot of the bench where Rapunzel's remaining blonde hair stood, "I think we found the cat."

"What...?" Jack mumbled, frowning.

He tilted his head slightly forward, inspecting the zone, and let out a snort. Beneath Rapunzel's mass of weightless hair, there was a brownish, orange small cat, cuddled into the softness of the seat. She jumped slightly at the sight, but then grinned at the small pet.

"Aw, he's so cute!" she said, grabbing it and hanging it beyond her face.

"He sure is but… 'Punzie?" Merida coaxed, pointing to the pair of boys still by the entrance, "You've got to give it back…"

"I don't think Wilson would be pleased if someone stole her cat," Jack commented, and erupted a light laughter from the remaining three.

"I guess not, here," Rapunzel handed the cat at Hiccup, who held it carefully.

"Funny thing… she said to be careful," Jack briefed, smirking at Hiccup's attempt to hold the cat as right as he could.

"Why?" Merida inquired, ginger eyebrows raised.

"This cat is only affectionate with her and her little brother…" Hiccup answered, "You must have something special to keep this cat straight – OUCH! Small cat, big claws!"

"See you two around!" Jack shouted at the amused girls, while laughing at the cat and closing the glassy door.

"You've got an, uh, exceptional cat, Heidi…" Hiccup stammered, placing the revolted cat on the girl's lap as they got past her compartment.

"Thank you, guys!" Heidi yelled as they left. Jack could only laugh.

"Think that's funny, don't you? I'd like to see you try, taming that _wild_ beast…" Hiccup complained, as both boys sat on their own cabine.

"Wild beast? Oof, if I knew cats were _so_ fierce I hadn't stuck with my aunt's Tooth Fairy," Jack teased, but immediately receiving an offenced quirk from the small, feathery creature hovering above his head.

"He was just joking, Baby Tooth," Hiccup soothed, grinning, "By the way… did we walk past a contest of long hair?"

Jack laughed once more, "You're right! Man, I never saw hair as messy as the redhead's one."

"The blonde shocked me the most… I had to step back with my eyes wide before asking them about the cat," Hiccup confessed.

"Oh right… the _tameless_ lion!" Jack mocked, smirking deviously. Hiccup rolled his eyes, not helping a slight grin.

"Shut up, Frost."

…

"Alright. Behind these doors, there are the remaning students, or your seniors, and your current professors. You will be sorted into your own houses, according to your goals and mind. They are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin."

Professor Longbottom stood right before the closed doors of the Great Hall, explaining to all first years what was bound to happen afterwards.

"We are ready to receive you," he said with a smile, and then instantly, the doors opened by themselves, luring out some surprised reactions from the young students.

Merida had an unbereable grin plastered all over her face, while she followed Rapunzel into the Hall. The long, golden tables were baled with innumerous students, each one of them in their own age, and lined up according to their Houses.

Her attention was suddenly caught by a certain table across the room, close to the tall wall, and their hostile features eased a frown upon her face.

"Who are they?" Merida asked at Rapunzel.

"The Slytherin House," the blonde answered, and soon after Hiccup had appeared behind them, face scrunched up in slight disgust.

"The House with the worst reputation alive," Hiccup said.

Just as he said that, a certain blonde boy hardened his glare over them. He had straight blonde hair, almost platinum to nearly shine, a pointy nose explicit for smugness and cold blue eyes that pierced any soul without mercy. Rapunzel trembled.

"T-that clarifies things a bit…" she stuttered, eyes widening.

By the time the Professor stopped walking, the large group was standing beyond a table with a few adults, proving to be their future teachers. The tall chair in the middle held an old woman, around her seventies, with a dark green cloak, uncountable wrinkles and a pointy black hat over the leftovers of her gray hair.

_Must be the Headmistress, _Merida thought.

"I shall put the Sorting Hat in your heads and it will sort you into your teams," Professor Longbottom said, lifting a dark, pointy hat from a wooden bench behind him.

"Oh no, a Hat! Run for your lives!" Jack whispered, and Hiccup chuckled.

Just like that, the Hat won a very odd shape to form an equivalent to a mouth, and it began something they never expected.

It started singing.

**"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,**  
**But don't judge on what you see,**  
**I'll eat myself if you can find**  
**A smarter hat than me.**

**You can keep your bowlers black,**  
**Your top hats sleek and tall,**  
**For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat**  
**And I can cap them all.**

**There's nothing hidden in your head**  
**The Sorting Hat can't see,**  
**So try me on and I will tell you**  
**Where you ought to be.**

**You might belong in Gryffindor,**  
**Where dwell the brave at heart,**  
**Their daring, nerve, and chivalry**  
**Set Gryffindors apart;**

**You might belong in Hufflepuff,**  
**Where they are just and loyal,**  
**Those patient Hufflepuffs are true**  
**And unafraid of toil;**

**Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,**  
**if you've a ready mind,**  
**Where those of wit and learning,**  
**Will always find their kind;**

**Or perhaps in Slytherin**  
**You'll make your real friends,**  
**Those cunning folks use any means**  
**To achieve their ends.**

**So put me on! Don't be afraid!**  
**And don't get in a flap!**  
**You're in safe hands (though I have none)**  
**For I'm a Thinking Cap!"**

The whole Hall erupted in applauses, set Slytherins apart, but Jack was mainly shocked.

"Please tell me the Hat didn't hear me," Jack confided at Hiccup, who merely smirked.

"You will come up and place the hat to be sorted into your houses, as I call your name," Professor Longbottom said, unwrapping a long parchment of names, "Greengrass, Rapunzel!"

"Oh dear," she quirked, visibly trembling from head to toes.

She climbed the few stone stairs and approached the stool, making herself comfortable as the Professor placed the Hat on her head, and gazed ahead in flutter. Where would she be put? Would she be sorted into Hufflepuff, where ruled the loyal and patient ones? Or Slytherin, the cunning house who never ceased to achieve their ends?

"Hmn… I see plenty of creativity…" a voice rang inside her head, and she jumped. The Hat was…

_You… talk?_

"Oh yes, child… I can ascertain that you are indeed curious… always bouncing on your chair to learn anything… very loyal, I see… a little bit dependable on people… and a hardworker! that settles it! HUFFLEPUFF!"

A rush of applauses was heard from everyone, and Rapunzel released the breath she didn't realize was holding. If being in Hufflepuff was to be just and loyal, then this house didn't seem so weak after all.

Rapunzel hopped up from the chair and headed for the Hufflepuff table, receiving many awing at her hair and a few cheerful greetings. She sat down, grinning so madly that she feared the loss of her mouth muscles.

"Hello!"

She turned to her right, and saw a girl with hair dark brown, tied up in a messy ponytail, and matching eyes. She seemed the cheery type of girl.

"I'm Sarah Jenkins, the Hufflepuff Prefect! Excited to be with us?"

Rapunzel giggled, "Yes, very much."

"Haddock, Hiccup!"

A few giggles and laughs echoed through the walls. Hiccup didn't blame them…

He gulped hard, while adapting himself in the chair… and with the hat.

"Right… fair square, I see…" the hat's voice seeped through his head, "Intelligent… an explorer for a fact… a bit of an artist too…"

_Odin's beard, he's talking to me?!_ _But, no one else seems to hear it…_

"Quite observant, too… patient, oh very patient… RAVENCLAW!"

Hiccup blinked in clutter, and then smiled proudly. Ravenclaw… the witty and creative beings.

He went down to his table and settled in, not before catching a glance and a bright smile from Rapunzel. He retrieved it instantly.

Hiccup lifted his chin again (after countless handshakes and greetings) to verify the current sorting.

"Potter, Albus!"

A young boy with untidy black hair, a thin face, and short stature went up, and Hiccup felt a tug at his arm.

"See that boy who just went up and the ginger girl not too far?" Richard, a boy who he had been greeted from, inquired him. "Those are the Potters and Weasleys."

"Oh!" Hiccup made. He'd hear about them, they were the main family who defeated The-He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Quite famous, those two families.

"GRYFFINDOR!" the Hat shouted for Albus.

"Weasley, Rose!"

"GRYFFINDOR!"

"Wilson, Heidi!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

"Calvert, Heather!"

Out of the blue, Hiccup's entire body was swallowed in a feverish wave of shudders at the name. He frowned, suspicious.

"RAVENCLAW!"

The girl stood up from the bench, and he got a better look at her. Her hair was as black as a raven's wing, arranged in a tress, and her eyes were of a dark emerald tone.

"Frost, Jack!"

_This is it,_ Jack thought, walking towards the seat hesitantly. The rest of his three new made friends watched him in absorption.

"Hmn… difficult, very difficult," it said, "Plenty of courage I see…"

_I must be crazy if I hear the Hat talking,_ he thought, grimacing.

"A good sense of humor, I see…" Jack grunted at that, "potential… and a bad habit of interfering…"

He glared at the hat. A bad habit of interfering, huh? This one was asking for a free ride to Quidditch courtyard.

"Oh, and _ambition_! For these whole years you have been trying for children to see you… You can't deny that bit, so… SLYTHERIN!"

The room stood quite for a few moments, before an escalating rumble of applauses filled inside. Merida was shocked, Rapunzel seemed slightly disappointed, and Hiccup just looked at him with an understanding gaze, as if trying to tell him that it was no big deal. But Jack wasn't worried about their reaction.

He was worried about what the Hat had said.

Trying for children to see him? Where did that come from?

The albino slowly climbed down the short stairs to unfortunately join his house, blue eyes widened, thinking about that statement, until he was interrupted by a greeting that he never expected.

He turned, confused, but unknowingly, relaxed. It was a boy, clearly two or three years older than him, with smooth brown hair and darker chocolate eyes. He seemed to be outgoing.

"Hi there, my name is Eugene," he said, and grinned, "I'm guessing you didn't expect to be sorted into Slytherin, did you?"

"I guess not…" Jack answered, smiling.

"Me neither… these guys are all snob and completely ungrateful," Eugene whispered, an annoyed look taking over his features. Jack sighed.

"Tell me about it."

"Burns, Merida!"

He looked up at the redhead, curious, and realized that both Hiccup and Rapunzel had copied his reaction, as well the Headmistress. She had actually paid attention to all of the four, but Jack had not seen it until now.

Merida's chest immediately got clenched, her heartbeat very fast, and approached the hat slowly. She took a deep breath when it was placed upon her forest of brutal red hair.

"Hmn… you are indeed a mixture of a lot… brave, loyal, kind… you have an outstanding courage and amazing abilities… but you are indeed difficult…"

_Dang, the Hat's talkin' to me?_

"It seems as if you'd do very well in either Hufflepuff, Slytherin or Gryffindor… but by your surprising bravery… GRYFFINDOR!"

Merida's lips automatically lifted upwards, and the whole room prospered life with the applause of the century. She rose from the seat, joining her table, and getting incountable handshakes and praises, not to mention the comments on her hair.

After her greeting was done, Professor McGonagall stood from her seat.

"Let the feast begin!"

Said words sparked the code, and the entire Hall was filled with the scrumptious aroma of the varied types of foods and desserts, and Merida awed.

_Now this is what I'm talking about! _She thought, grinning, and poured her plate with delicacies topped with amazing sauces.

…

Afterwards, the way to Gryffindor Tower, or Gryffindor Common Room had been explained by the Prefects, and its inside as well. Merida was taught where the girls' dormitory was, the bathroom, and the common room itself.

Right now, everyone in her dormitory was sleeping soundly, uniform tidily prepared for the upcoming school day and sheets drawn up to their throats, except for one girl.

Merida gazed at the stars longingly, petting Ace's soft fur in a gentle motion, her hair a bright and fiery red as the silver curtains of the moon bathed her form in a welcoming deed.

Really deep inside her, something told her that, somehow, the Moon was exactly the same as a savior to her.

…

**(1) I have absolutely no idea if Neville became the Deputy Headmaster, but in this story, he is.**

**I have something else planned for Hiccup and Rapunzel about their death, so don't fret!**

**I'm still debating on which pairing I should put… Hiccup with Astrid or with Heather. I know it seems as if I made up my mind, showing Heather like that, but it's not like that… yet. Maybe…**

**Help me out, guys, or else no good for me or you!**


	4. Present: Fifth Grade and Old Friends

**Hello there! I warned you it would take me long, and I hope you like this chapter... I've finished my novel's first chapter and have started the second, and since my new fanfiction, "The Fire Princess and the Bowman" is about to begin, you know I'll be quite busy. I won't give up on this story, I promise!**

**Enjoy!**

**...**

"That's… an interesting discovery."

Merida stared at Rapunzel with a frown and a slight grin, confused at her apparent wisdom. The blonde rolled her eyes.

"Many people know that," she clarified, and placed another ingredient of their potion on the cauldron, "At least in London."

"Well, this is Hogwarts, and even though it's also in Britain, I don't think the students know that," Merida disagreed, big blue eyes narrowed as the bubbles of the potion didn't seem to be healthy.

"Fifth grade students might know," she insisted.

"No, 'Punzie. They don't. Apparently you're the only fifth grader that knows that."

"Oh… well, that's bommer," Rapunzel said, distracted, and still trying to work out the potion. Merida smirked.

"Ye kno', if Hic were here he'd probably mash somethin' up and then the potion would be mitchy perfect," Merida mumbled, cursing her denial for Potions subject.

"Jack's lucky then; according to him, as his best friend, Hiccup has the _right_ to save his butt," Rapunzel reminded, giggling at the memory.

"We're just not the typical Ravenclaw Braniac as our Hic is," Merida teased, but went immediately lost when the potion began turning a very unattractive shade of brown, "Uh, Rapunzel, what did ye put in that?"

"Huh?" Rapunzel made, and checked the syruped liquid in confusion, "I don't understand! I did everything according to the book!"

"Well apparently it didn't work!" Merida said.

Merida rumaged through the recipe again frantically, even squeezed the pages to almost rip, before finding something useful and placing it back down quickly. She added a drop of pomegranate juice, and the brown faded into a delightful tone of lilac. Merida sighed in relief.

"If I get another D, my mum kills me."

"I think you managed the last ingredient… how'd you do it?" Rapunzel inquired, after really comparing the potion color to the one in the book and assuming it was close enough.

"I remembered a tip Hiccup gave me… he said that if there were any types of juices in the list of ingredients I could add it in the end if I forgot," she answered, "It's also safe to put more drops than the already added, but as he said: 'It's only going to improve your potion if Thor's lightning bolt hits you with the intentions of good fortune'."

"You really paid attention to him, didn't you?" Rapunzel asked. It was actually very surprising, since Merida did not care for such things very often.

"I had to! The last time I got a D, my mum got me grounded fer two weeks!" Merida complained, but as she was about to finish her unfair occurrence, professor Slughorn stared downright at them.

"Oh, Ms. Burns and Ms. Greengrass, I can assume that you are finished with your potion?" he asked, as nicely as usual.

"Uh, yes, professor, we're actually done…" Rapunzel responded, smiling slightly.

"Oh, well then, hand it over to me and you may leave."

Merida and Rapunzel nodded, guarding their potions ingredients and their cauldrons, and dispatched themselves to Professor Slughorn's desk.

"Time's up, retrieve the potions now."

The remaining class quit their attempts to finish the potions, handing them over to their Potions Professor. Merida and Rapunzel packed their books and quills, and left for the hall.

"The good thing about Professor Slughorn is that he's actually nice… the complete opposite of our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher," Rapunzel commented, grimacing at the end.

"Och, I swear if I didn't have self-control…" Merida muttered, the hand that was not holding her books forming into a fist.

"I used to think most teachers were nice… until Professor Black came up," Rapunzel confessed, proving to be surprised at herself. She was usually a person who liked everyone, but her Potions teacher was a special case. No wonder why the rumor 'Pitch Black, the Boogeyman' wandered around the school.

"That gogg'ly old hag…" Merida swore, and gritted her teeth.

"Complaining about Professor Black again, Princess?"

Both girls looked forward to identify the voice, and grinned at their sight. Jack and Hiccup were a few feet away from them, smiling brightly.

"He's surely one of a kind," Hiccup commented, grimacing, as the four teenagers approached each other.

"_Princess?!_" Merida accused, her glare as fierce as the fiery curls of her hair, "How many times have I told ye to not call me a princess, Frost?!"

"Here we go again…" Rapunzel mumbled, rolling her eyes. Hiccup chuckled.

"What's so bad about the name princess, _Princess?_" Jack teased, smirking playfully.

"I just don't like to be compared to one of those… lassies! I'm definitely _not_ a rich, spoiled brat of a princess," Merida complained, yet grinning slyly and crossing her arms above her chest, "Ye know, ye shouldn't be calling 'princess' at the Keeper of Gryffindor who always blocks yer goals."

"We'll see about that in the next game, Ginger!" Jack promised with a triumphant grin.

Quidditch between Slytherin and Gryffindor had always been though and important, but to Jack and Merida, deep down, it was merely a friendly competition between each other. Being the fastest Chaser Slytherin's ever had, Jack was able to dodge a lot of Bludgers and oponents, but there were rare times when he actually scored a goal. In fact, Gryffindor stood up at the top because Merida was an excellent Keeper.

"When is the next game of Ravenclaw, Hiccup?" Rapunzel asked, smiling, "We all know how much of a neat Seeker you are."

"I'm actually not sure…" he said, thoughtful, as the quartet headed for their upcoming class. It was one they all chose, so they all stuck together, which was Care for the Magical Creatures.

"If you're not sure then it must be too far ahead to practice," Jack commented.

"I have no idea, seriously," Hiccup admited, "I'll ask Ray afterwards."

The four kept on walking towards the specified place for Hagrid's lesson, chatting and, occasionally, Hiccup and Rapunzel would laugh at Jack's attempt to tease Merida to no end and at her stubborn responses.

"Where is the lesson supposed to be again?" Jack asked, as they approached the fair amount of students crowding up in front of Hagrid's Hut.

"According to Hagrid, it's in the Dark Forest," Hiccup answered, slightly taken aback.

"The Dark Forest?" Rapunzel inquired, a little trembly, "Isn't that… dangerous?"

"Hagrid once told me tha' the Dark Forest is only dangerous by night," Merida revealed, "He's teached a lesson at the edge of the forest in mid-day and nothing happened."

"Sure… define Hagrid's 'nothing'," Hiccup said sarcastically.

"Yeah," Merida agreed, squeezing one eye closed in a grimace.

"Oh come on, it's not tha' bad!" Hagrid's voice suddenly boomed over the four, and they all yelped in perfect synch. Hagrid laughed, his tousled beard bouncing as he did so.

"Yeh four have a lil' vibe comin' off," he said, grinning, "Reminds me of tha' old trio, Harry, Ron and Hermione…"

"Right… why do you always tell us that?" Hiccup questioned, eyebrow raised.

"Because it's true!" he answered, and turned to the remaining class, "Alright, follow me, today is a special lesson."

"Again: Define Hagrid's 'Special Lesson'," Hiccup dared Merida, who smirked.

The class went behind Hagrid's footprints obediently, chatting incessantly and walking upon the cracking gravel of the magical forest. All of the trees and nature seemed different from their usual state; the leaves were green and vivid, tucking the tree branches like an embrace, and the rocks drowned in average amounts of moss, enough to make it look beautiful.

"Who knew the Dark Forest could be so beautiful by day," Hiccup said, amazed.

"I was scared for nothing," Rapunzel admitted.

Hagrid then came to a stop, facing the students, and grinning like never before.

"Something's up… Hagrid never smiles _that_ much," Jack pointed out, but Merida rolled her eyes.

"Och, a lad can be jolly from time to time," she opposed. Merida couldn't avoid inspecting his view anyway, and to her surprise, she found herself agreeing.

"But I guess… this time it's… different," she finished, confused. Hagrid was indeed happy, his teeth shining behind that massive messy beard.

He cleared his throat, and then made an introducing gesture with a, "Ta-ta-ra-ram!"

There were multiple blinks of bewilderement, until many gasps were heard.

"Yowza!" Jack exclaimed, grinning.

A wonderful, enormous creature crept from the bushes, a fantastic one colored with a night black scaly skin and cat like green eyes, flapping its reptile wings slowly and gently.

"Meet Toothless," Hagrid presented, and laughed, "He is actually not mine, so the name surprised me."

He tucked out a dead fish from his gigantic coat and tossed it to the creature, which ate it gleefully.

"Hagrid… what exactly _is_ that?" Rapunzel asked, timidly and somewhat frightened.

"Hmm, I'll give yeh class a shot. Who knows what Toothless is?"

Hiccup's hand went up instantly, much to Merida, Jack and Rapunzel's expectations. Actually to the entire class'.

"Yes, Hiccup?"

"That's a dragon, right Hagrid?" he inquired, smiling in fascination, "A Night Fury."

"Indeed it is, Hiccup! Ten points to Ravenclaw," Hagrid conceded, and Hiccup grinned. The whole class gasped and awed at Toothless.

Jack walked slowly towards the small teenager, a fake annoyance taken over his expression.

"You are so not fair…" he muttered, and Hiccup chuckled, "You've got to help me with Charms' essay…"

"Study a little bit and then we'll talk," Hiccup said, patting him on the shoulder, and it took more than a minute for Jack to realize the meaning behind his words.

"Oh come on, bro! If you don't help me I'm doomed," Jack insisted, now in a whisper, since Hagrid was talking.

"You should have thought of that before…" Hiccup scolded, yet smiling, "Fine, I'll help."

"Yes!" Jack hissed, earning a few stares from a few students, but he ignored them, "Thank you, Hic, I promise I won't ask you again!"

"That's what you said last time," he reminded, faking neutralism, as he focused on listening to Hagrid.

"Whoops," Jack whispered, his lips drawing his trademark, mischievous smirk.

"Jack, pay attention," Merida chided, playfully, bringing her index finger to her mouth with a wink.

Jack raised his hands in surrender, smirk widening, and obeying Merida. Rapunzel raised her hand as Hagrid stopped talking.

"Yes, Rapunzel?"

"Aren't dragons supposed to be forbidden here, Hagrid?" she asked, both curious and suspicious.

"Professor McGonagall made an exception in this case…" he clarified, and then clapped his hands together, "So, who would like to come and say hello?"

An immediate step back was made by everyone… except for Hiccup.

"Very good, Hiccup!" Hagrid said, but scratching his head and mumbling something like 'déjà-vu'.

Hiccup flinched, shocked, and glanced at the shrinking class behind him.

"Even you?" Hiccup asked Merida, in disbelief, who shrugged with a grin.

He rolled his eyes, and stared at Toothless hesitantly.

"Come on, Hiccup, don't be shy!" Hagrid coaxed.

Hiccup gulped, and took slow and reluctant steps toward Toothless. Hagrid watched them both, to check on specific reactions, and motioned Hiccup to stop when he was close enough.

"Now, bow to him. Dragons are very fearful, they only attack to defend themselves," Hagrid instructed, and Hiccup did so.

As he bowed deeply for Toothless, he felt himself hyperventilating in a growing scale. He felt very nervous, and yet, he felt as if this had happened before.

"Wait until he bows you back," Hagrid warned, but as soon as Hiccup lifted his chin to take a look at Toothless, the black dragon looked back into his emerald green eyes with a burning emotion that he had never seen before. He flinched, eyes widened.

"Toothless," Hagrid called, and both exchanged a stare that left Hiccup completely bewildered.

The dragon let out a soft noise, like a whimper, but nonetheless bowed deeply for him.

"Did you see that?" Rapunzel whispered to Merida and Jack, both nodding with a frown.

"Okay Hiccup, I think you can approach him now," Hagrid said.

He breathed in slowly, and stood up from his curved position, approaching Toothless as Hagrid had told him to. He stretched out a hand unsteadily, his fingers quivering slightly, afraid of what could happen if he wasn't approved.

To his surprise, Toothless closed his eyes joyfully, and leaned into his palm with no hesitation. A wave of applauses and whistles erupted from the entire class, not counting a few Slytherins, and Hiccup couldn't feel more proud.

"Professor McGonagall was right…" Hagrid breathed, impressed.

"What?" Hiccup asked, petting Toothless behind his ear fondly. He didn't know why, but he felt himself already attached to Toothless somehow.

"Oh, nothin'!" Hagrid amended, grinning nervously, "Oh well, I think he wants yeh to ride 'im!"

"H-huh?" Hiccup made, eyes widened, and struggled when Hagrid grabbed him out of the blue, "W-wait, Hagrid! I don't think this is such a—"

"It's a great idea!" Hagrid interrupted, placing him down on Toothless's saddle, "Up dragon!"

Toothless roared at Hagrid's command, making Hiccup panic and gasp, holding onto his scaly neck for dear life. The wings went wide open, and Toothless started running for the edge of the area the class was standing in.

While Hiccup let out a strangled yell, Toothless took flight.

"Go, Hic!" Hiccup heard Jack scream, and then laughed with Merida and Rapunzel.

Hiccup raised his head from Toothless's neck, and stared straight forward. His eyes went wide in allure.

An amazing landscape of ripply crystal water and beautiful mountains assaulted his sight, framing Hogwarts Castle's imposing stature. Wild wind bated his cheeks, lips, nose, hair, even his eyelashes, and he couldn't help but grin. It felt oddly welcoming, as the solemn air took him in, and Hiccup released a breathy chuckle.

He felt Toothless dive in, towards the remaining forest, which was flooded with dry, orange tinted leaves and multiple fallen tree branches, symbolizing the fact that Autumn sure had arrived.

Hiccup dared himself, and spreaded his arms dubiously to the sharp wind that pierced around him rapidly. However, it took less than a few seconds for him to laugh in awe, feeling so amazingly comfortable with that brownish, Autumn view. His dark blue Ravenclaw tie shook with the wind, as well as his long black cloak, and he grinned even more.

"WOOOOOHOOO!" he screamed, victoriously. The feeling was stupendous.

Mindless to Hiccup, Toothless sneaked a glance at his rider, and smiled that strange smile of his at his returned best friend.

…

The Great Hall echoed with talking and chatting from the students by lunch time, each House eating fervently and taking advantage of their free periods.

"I have to admit, Haddock sure surprised us today," Merida heard James Potter say across her seat, and she shot a grin at him.

"Then ye don't kno' him at all," she said, obviously proud of her best friend's success.

"Oh yeah, you, Frost, Greengrass and Haddock are, according to Hagrid, my parents' and uncle's new generation gang," Hugo Weasley piped in.

"Your parents?" Merida inquired.

"Ron and Hermione Weasley, formely Hermione Granger," Rose, Hugo's older sister said, "Our uncle is Harry."

"Harry Potter?" Merida asked, intrigued. Rose nodded, "Now that's nice!"

Rose and her little brother smiled, as well as James and Albus did.

"Hey, Merida?"

The ginger was about to stuff a big chunk of spaghetti into her mouth, which made her stop abruptly in a very awkward position at the call. She placed the fork down, and looked sideways, meeting a girl with blonde hair pushed up in a braid, but with a pair of strands dangling by her face. Her golden fringe nearly covered her left eye, paired up with its aqua-marine blue twin.

"Astrid," Merida said, "what is it?"

"Do you want to practice Quidditch with me this weekend? We both need our strength for the game," Astrid offered, smiling confidently.

"Sure!"

To Merida, Astrid Hofferson was her second best _girl_ friend, Rapunzel being the first. When she was out in the halls and lessons, she was with Rapunzel most of the time, but when she came back to Gryffindor Common room or had a Quidditch meeting, she'd hang out with Astrid or Albus, or even James and the Weasleys for that matter. Astrid was one of the Gryffindor's Beaters, so she and Merida would occasionally invite the Potters to train. Out of the three siblings, James was the most excited about those practices.

"Hey, Al!" Astrid called, and Albus looked up, "How about some Quidditch practice Saturday? Make sure to bring James and Lily."

"Sounds good," he agreed, grinning.

As Merida picked up her fork to restart eating, something dropped from her cloak's pocket. She frowned, bending down to pick it up, before realizing what it was and to whom it belonged to.

"Hold on a second, this is Hiccup's quill," Merida remembered. Hiccup had given her that quill for good luck on her exam, no magic spell attached, just sentimentalism.

"I'm goin' to give it to him, I'll be right back," Merida informed Astrid, already standing up from the table.

"Wait, Merida!" Astrid said, and the ginger stopped, curious, "Can I go with you?"

"… Ye want to go with me just to retrieve a quill?" she stated, eyebrow raised.

"L-let's just go," Astrid muttered, suddenly looking like she'd punch someone. Merida and Astrid had that sort of temper in common, but Merida's was honestly much more fiery.

They both headed for Ravenclaw's table, to the exact place Hiccup was sitting on and talking to a girl with black hair and light green eyes.

When they got there, Merida poked him in the back of his neck sharply.

"Ouch!" he grunted, turning around to throw a tantrum at who bothered him, and sighed, realizing it was just Merida.

"Seriously, is violence a Scottish ritual? 'Cause I'm getting pretty damaged thanks to your constant temper," he teased, earning himself a hair tug, this time being more of a playful scold from the ginger.

"I f'ergot to give this back," Merida said, and lifted the white, silvery quill.

"Thanks… I was actually wondering where I'd put that," he confessed, chuckling, and then noticed Astrid behind her, "Oh, hey Astrid."

"Hey Hiccup," she replied, a little too friendly for Merida's expectation, "Nice work with that Night Fury today, you were really impressive."

"Thanks, I guess," he said, smiling nervously. He had a heart made of butter and a brain freeze when it was about pretty girls.

Merida traded a look of suspicion and deviousness between the two teens, before turning it into a surprised face as soon as realizing who stood next to Hiccup.

"Hi there, Heather," she said, smiling slightly.

Heather waved, her lips curving to that soft smile of hers that charmed most boys around Ravenclaw.

"Hi, Merida, Astrid."

Astrid's reaction was not a very friendly one, as she stared at her with her eyes narrowed slightly. Both Merida and Hiccup blinked in confusion, but not long before Merida got herself a smirk drawn to her lips.

"Oy… Astrid?" she called, touching the blonde's shoulder, "We're comin' back to Gryffindor's table, and possibly… my lunch?"

"Okay, okay," Astrid said, a little too fast, but she followed Merida back to Gryffindor anyway. Not without a last glance at Heather though.

"Right… that was weird, I guess," Hiccup said, and Heather nodded.

"So, you were talking about Professor Boot?" she reminded.

Both Merida and Astrid had sat back down on their House's table at that exact moment, and Merida was still smirking.

"What?" Astrid said, confused.

"What was that?" she inquired, a really uncommon gleam of mischievousness glittering in her turquoise eyes.

"What was what?" Astrid rebounded.

"_That,_" Merida insisted, "The thing back there."

"I have no idea of what you're talking about," Astrid replied, and brought up her glass of orange juice to take a sip.

"Ye and Hiccup have a '_zing_' goin' on," Merida guessed, now fully grinning. Astrid immediately sputtered on her drink.

"What?! That's the same as saying that you and Jack look so cute together!" Astrid opposed, her cheeks pinkish, but then her eyes widened at Merida's faltered grin and deep red blush.

"… Really?" Astrid inquired with a smirk, eyebrows raising in a suggestive motion.

"No!" Merida shot back, almost too quickly, as if automatic, "I hate that guy…"

"Gee, I don't think so."

"But I do!"

"You're still blushing. You're lying."

Merida groaned, pulling her rebellious red hair forward to block her entire face, most precisely her blush. Astrid laughed at her.

"And he calls you princess. That could be an indirect way of telling you that he may want more than friendship…" the blonde teased, smiking.

"That's it," Merida said, and abruptly stood up from the table that it almost tore her plate backwards. Most Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs stared at her, namely Rapunzel.

"This is not good," Rapunzel said, with a knowing grin.

"What's not good?" Hiccup suddenly asked, from behind her.

"Oh, Hiccup," she said, turning around and grinning wider, "Let's just say… Jack's in trouble."

Hiccup frowned, and stared at Merida, who headed for a special chair in Slytherin table, occupied by none other than Jack. As he saw her coming, he gave her a smirk.

"Look who's here! It's Bushy-Hair," he joked, and Eugene laughed.

Merida's anger seemed to have aroused at the comment.

"Uh-oh," Hiccup and Rapunzel made.

Surely enough, her hand slapped the back of his neck roughly, earning a complaint from the albino haired boy beneath. Her tomato red flush made the scene look even funnier.

"That's fer callin' me a princess," she grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked it not so gently, "and that's fer callin' me 'Bushy-Hair'."

Her voice had came out tingly and broken, unknowing how. Jack stared at Merida in disbelief, mouth open in-between a smirk and a frown, while most students stared at the pair in a mixture of surprise, annoyance and amusement.

"That's the second time today," he commented, smirking.

"You never get angry at that little brat, I wonder how you manage it," Scorpious Malfoy suddenly spat.

Both Eugene and Jack glared at the blond boy.

"Because I know that she's only joking," Jack clarified, in mock disgust, "Merlin's beard, get a life."

"You really need to do some research about women's temper," Eugene advised, laughing afterwards.

"I wouldn't take Burns for a woman," Scorpious insulted, smirking.

Jack's sudden stand shook the table, but it had no comparison to the icy, furious glare that he sent at Scorpious.

"You're making fun of my friend, Malfoy."

The moment Malfoy prepared a spiteful remark, Eugene grabbed Jack's wrist alarmingly.

"Don't. It'll only get you in trouble, trust me."

Jack stared at him at first, speechless, but nonetheless sighed and sat back down without a fuss. The very few people that gave Jack valuable lessons were Hiccup, Rapunzel and Eugene. Merida… was a different story.

"I wonder how you know so much about these kind of things," Jack said, picking on a potato.

"Let's just say… I used to pick up fights," he answered, "But I ended up realizing that it was pointless, so I stopped."

He stared at a certain spot behind Jack's head, brown eyes drowned in an emotion that was strong but soft. She laughed at some joke Hiccup had told her, before he himself went away back to Ravenclaw table, and her sonny blonde hair contrasted in her enormous emerald eyes.

Because, curse the moon, he remembered everything.

…

"_Protect the princess! Save yourselves!"_

"_She's back!"_

_He ran throughout the entire castle with a ragged breath, panicking very widely at the vivid screams. He had to find Rapunzel. They had to go._

_When he spotted the door he was searching for, he kicked it open so violently that the brunette in its chambers jumped slightly._

"_Eugene! What's going on?!" she asked, and leapt from the open windowsill. Eugene concluded that she was already aware of the events, and immediately caught her hand._

"_Gothel."_

_It was one single word, but it had Rapunzel's back shiver viciously and her large green eyes go wide._

"_H-how…?" she breathed, terrified. Eugene's heart fluttered at her frightened expression, and he pulled her into a comforting embrace._

"_I don't know, honey. All that I know is that we have to leave, now," he clarified._

_He then broke the hug and shielded her shoulders with one arm, pushing her for the hall, and both began running for the castle's back door._

"_But Eugene! What about my parents?!" she demanded, willing to stop, but he was stronger and didn't allow her to._

"_They know, they told me to get you somewhere safe," he explained. Rapunzel frowned, showing uncertainity._

_They had reached the so wanted back door by now, and before they left, Eugene grabbed two cloaks and a basket with necessary food for a journey. He wrapped a dark cloak around himself, and Rapunzel mimicked his actions, but quite horrified._

"_Rapunzel…" he whispered, when a tear whisked its way down her flushed cheeks. He cupped her face,the tips of his fingers brushing against the spikey points of her short brown hair._

"_We'll get through this. We're together, aren't we? When we're together, we can overcome anything and you know that," he soothed, and pressed a lingering kiss to her forehead, "I'm right and you know that."_

"… _I just hope she doesn't hurt you again," she sobbed. The brunette buried her face into his chest, and he gave her another embrace, this time strong and desperate._

"_She won't. You don't have to worry about me," he said, "Now, let's go, before she finds us here."_

_They split apart, and fled from the castle, into the depths of the forest. They ran through the trees and nature in despair and solicitude, close to each other and never willing to let go._

_When they had reached the deep centre of the forest, they stopped, slowly regaining their breaths and hiding behind a very long braid of plants. Rapunzel was the first to react._

"_Eugene… we're in the ruins of my old tower."_

_He frowned in disbelief, but then watched as his wife slowly wandered towards the small slimmer of sunlight that peeked in a few steps from them. When he followed her, the frown grew into a shocked eye widening._

"_Out of all places, we end up here?" he asked, out loud, almost dramatically._

"_According to my plan."_

_They both froze at the new, but overly familiar voice, and turned to none other than Mother Gothel, a few steps away from them. She was smirking gloriously, and that glimmer of malice within those grey eyes struck an impulse of protection within Eugene. He was close to Rapunzel in a split second._

"_Why are you here, _Gothel_?" Eugene demanded, spitting her name like a venomous poison._

_The black haired woman just laughed._

"_Oh Rider, I can see you have been practicing on your kingly duties."_

"_That's not what I asked," he interrupted, still furious._

"_Why are you back?" Rapunzel interfeered, her voice soft and tiny between them, "And more importantly, how?"_

"_Oh I have my ways," she assured, "But the reason I'm back, is revenge."_

_The pair erupted in a mixture of shock and anger._

"_And how will you do that, huh?!" Eugene spat, now seizing Rapunzel's hand with vehemence, "The last time you were alive, I got your precious little youth root killed. What makes you think I won't find a way to tear you away again?"_

_Gothel's face seemed to have reached blankness, but it lasted for less than three seconds. She had jumped from her spot, hand stretched to grab Rapunzel, but Eugene was faster._

_He pulled them both to the side, falling on the ground with a yelp. He stood up and faced Gothel, who had missed her shot and fell to the grass, and picked the dagger he kept inside his boot. When Gothel struck again, he slashed her arm fiercely, and the woman screeched, jumping backwards in weakness. But she attacked again, catching him off guard and stealing the bloodly dagger, which got Rapunzel up from the ground._

_With a yell, she slapped Gothel as hard as she could, venting her anger and loneliness into that smack._

"_That was for kidnapping me," she screamed, and then proceeded to steal back the dagger and dive it on her chest, "and that was for lying, hiding and misjudging me!"_

_Eugene grabbed the brunette back from the crouching Gothel, impressed by her bravery and loyalty, but most of all, wanting her near him. This woman was unpredictable._

_Just as he had thought, Gothel stood up, lips a scarlet red and blade sticking up her chest, and pointed a staggering finger towards them both._

"Shall I have the gift, shall I have my revenge,

These two easily swayed hearts

Are to not be scavenged

And I will tear them to parts!"

_A strong line of dark light engulfed their forms, and with a gasp, Eugene and Rapunzel, King and Queen of Corona, were submitted to a slumber that lasted for more than one thousand years._

…

Rapunzel gasped, immediately rising from the golden and black sheets on the bed like an arrow in movement. Sweat and fear swallowed her form, and she tried to breathe in and out, cooling herself.

The moon, silver and godly, peeked down at her knowingly, her long blonde hair glittering magically with the bright light. Rapunzel gave one last sigh, closing her eyes.

_It was just a nightmare, a nightmare, a very strange nightmare…_

Or was it?

**...**

**Do not ask me what Rapunzel knew that many students did not. I have no idea either xD**


	5. Author's Note

I must say that I am not going to upload this story for a _**long**_ time, people. So, if you still like the fandom, search for other stories. This one is on hiatus. I might finish it someday, but that day is going beyond the time HTTYD 2 is released. I deeply apologise for this, and also if you thought this was a chapter... I must finish my novel, in time so that I publish it next year, in the least. I stablished a limit, which is fifteen chapters of my book written in this summer, and I am _not_ breaking this vow. Again, I'm sorry.


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